As a school we believe in a set of core principles, which infuse throughout our curriculum, culture, classrooms, and have become a key part of our everyday language:
‘This is a school built on respect, developing resilient learners, expert readers, knowledge explorers and responsible citizens’.
Developing Resilience has been part of our school ethos for a number of years. As we look to support our students with their mental health and well-being, developing this key disposition has become increasingly more important.
Research and evidence emphasise the potential impact of developing metacognition and self-regulation strategies, and our teachers routinely promote these resilience-building approaches through student reflection and evaluation.
The emphasis on developing expert readers reflects our key priority of developing literacy. Students with good literacy skills are proven to benefit not just in examinations, but across a range of areas when they leave school, including health and wellbeing, employment and finance. To facilitate this for all students, reading is “every teacher’s business” at this school. In lessons, students will regularly engage with age-appropriate texts with deliberate attention being paid to subject vocabulary.
Explicit non – fiction reading lessons are a new feature of the curriculum for year 7 and 8 students, with a tried and tested package being implemented to ensure this is a quality experience. Where students need support with their reading, a range of strategies will be implemented, with a high emphasis on identification and support at key stage 3.
The core principle of developing knowledge explorers is reflected in the work which has been carried out on the curriculum which will help students to construct, develop, and retain a core body of academic knowledge and skills.
Each department has curriculum plans which detail how student knowledge will be built up over time. Effective forms of assessment are layered throughout our plans to help make student progress visible over time.
We also carry out a lot of work in home group time and well-being days to ensure students learn how to revise effectively and independently. All year 11 students are equipped with a revision folder and sets of flashcards, and will learn a variety of techniques to ensure that revision time is efficient and supports knowledge retention.
As a school it has long been our aim to develop our students into responsible citizens, such that they all move on to their chosen destinations with the cultural competence and confidence they need to thrive. Our students embrace opportunities to be respectful, active members of our community and foster a sense of responsibility.
Through our classroom teaching and pastoral, enrichment and wellbeing programmes, it is our aim to always raise the aspirations of our students, engender a strong sense of British values and to celebrate and embrace the different backgrounds, heritage, language and traditions of all the people living and working in this country.